RaMell Ross' ‘Nickel Boys’ brings to life the notorious cruelty of a Southern reform school

Film director RaMell Ross is unapologetic about his focus on the Black South in his work, including his latest film ‘Nickel Boys.’

Film director RaMell Ross is unapologetic about his focus on the Black South in his work. His first feature-length documentary, “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” captures the educational experiences, the class struggles and the reverberations of Jim Crow segregation in an Alabama community, earning him an Oscar nomination in 2019. 

“Nickel Boys,” Ross’ first narrative feature, falls in line with his professional and personal mission. He and producer Joslyn Barnes adapted the film from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel, “The Nickel Boys.” 

The story is set at the fictional Nickel Academy, based on the notoriously cruel Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys near Tallahassee, Florida, which operated for 111 years before being shut down by the Department of Justice in 2011. Far worse than the white children in the institution’s charge, Black children were physically and emotionally abused in the hundreds with no accountability. Nearly 100 teens and boys — and possibly more — died on its grounds, with many buried in unmarked graves. 

“It seemed perfect for me to adapt,” said Ross, who lives part time in Alabama. “I was a Black boy, and I can see myself specifically in Elwood because I grew up with a lot of love. I was a really, really, really good kid because I was afraid something small would happen and it would just escalate, and life would be derailed, and I’d let my parents down and everything they’ve done would go to waste.”

For Ross, “Nickel Boys” is also very much tied to his acclaimed documentary. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/nickel-boys-ramell-ross-documentary-film-rcna181910

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